


Stories and Cigarette Smoke

by Shiniko1898



Series: There Are No Miracles Here [2]
Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-14 23:36:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29799606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shiniko1898/pseuds/Shiniko1898
Summary: Scenes and outtakes from Wash the sins away, mostly Daryl POV’s
Relationships: Daryl Dixon/Original Female Character(s)
Series: There Are No Miracles Here [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2190375
Comments: 37
Kudos: 33





	1. First Impressions

Daryl thinks she’s a feral bitch first time he meets her and she dangles Sophia in front of him like a taunt then fuckin’ runs. He don’t give a shit ‘bout whatever group she’s with. He just wants fuckin’ Sophia back with Carol. Ain’t that hard to understand. He don’t know what’s so damn important she’s tryin’ to keep hidden but he don’t care ‘bout it. Just wants to find that little girl and move on. 

Then he tracks her down to a shack that’s surrounded by tin cans on strings and Walker corpses and all that’s there is two little boys, some dogs and her. Ain’t no group. Just her and two little kids. He gets her protectiveness immediately. Like a doe trying to keep a coyote from finding her fawn. That’s all. She was bein’ a Momma. The kinda momma that would die before lettin’ harm come to her kids. Seeing Sophia alive and healthy and smiling lifts about a thousand pounds off his shoulders. She’s fine and Carol gets her daughter back and this fuckin’ matters. 

He could leave with just Sophia. Could go on their merry fuckin’ way, but he can’t. Can’t just leave this woman and her kids alone. Ain’t right. Not after what she did. He owes her, Carol owes her, the whole damn group owes her. He ain’t one to leave a debt unsettled. Gettin’ her to agree is hard until the kids get involved. Then those icy blue eyes melt and he can see the resolve break. She can’t say no to those babies. That’s clear enough. 

When that little one brings up their daddy in that truck, it’s real clear she don’t wanna talk ‘bout the man. Her eyes close and he can’t tell if it’s grief or pain or anger, but it ain’t good what’s on her face. He don’t know what type of man the kids’ daddy was, but he hopes he was a good one. Hopes this woman ain’t have herself a man like Ed or his old man. Seems like she’s got enough troubles without that kinda shit on top of it. 

She’s feral, he thinks again when he watches her meet the group, feral and ready to run again at the first sign of trouble. She’s a thinker, he can see wheels spinning in her head each time she looks one of his group over. He don’t think she likes many of ‘em. If the way she keeps the boys close is any indication. He ain’t sure he disagrees. Group is fucked. Has been for awhile. She don’t run off though. Don’t leave. So he figures she sees the benefit of a group now that she’s seeing how many people are around to keep an eye out for trouble. Daryl ain’t sure if bringing her back was a good idea or not, but for now, he’ll keep an eye on her. The kids too. Make sure nothin’ weird happens. 


	2. Pretty Ain’t All There Is

Daryl don’t know what to make of the woman. She ain’t fazed by shit ‘til something seems like it’s gonna hurt those kids of hers. Ain’t seem to care ‘bout much past the kids and dogs. He gets the feelin’ she’d happily slit his throat if she decided he was gonna hurt those boys. She kept ‘em alive in a damn shine shack alone for two months. He ain’t sure how she did it, but it’s real clear she ain’t gonna struggle much if she takes the kids and leaves. She’s with the group ‘cause she wants to be, not needs to be. Daryl can see that clear enough. Can see she knows it too. 

Feral, he thought that first time he saw her standing over him all narrow eyed and wary with those hound dogs, she’s feral. Couldn’t tell what type of feral right away though. Some things get real skittish when they’re feral, others get real mean. She’s both, she’s mean and skittish and proud as hell. Until she’s with her kids. He’d figured, with so much time out alone with just her, they’d be feral too. Which he wasn’t wrong ‘bout. The older boy is mean as a snake when someone messes with his momma. Reminds him a bit of Merle. ‘Specially with that mouth of his. Little one ain’t like that though. Kid tugs on the heartstrings with those big doe eyes. Daryl learns real quick the idea of those kids not makin’ it don’t sit right with him at all. 

He can see real easy how much those boys matter to her. She don’t coddle them, but she loves ‘em and that’s clearer than day. Seems she saves all her kindness for them. All her love goes to them. Everything she does seems to rotate right around them. He don’t wanna see what happens if she loses one of ‘em. 

Coretta walking in calm as she pleases on him beating answers outta that brat Rick brought back makes him see red a bit. He don’t want her ‘round this. Not a bit. She don’t need to see it. She’s feral and kinda bitchy and admits to being trailer trash, but she still shouldn’t see this. Feels like it’s tainting something. He don’t know how to react when she kneels down and talks all sweet to the boy. Talks to him like he’s one of her kids, friendly and nice and no where close to feral. Listening to her cajole answers outta him is unnerving. When she blows out cigarette smoke and starts talking about burning the kid, he hopes like hell she’s making that story up. He don’t wanna think ‘bout this woman gettin’ burnt up like that. Ain’t sit right with him at all. 

He ain’t sure what to make of it when her littlest kid, the real cute sweet one, starts following him around when his momma is busy. Nearly makes that older one try to shoot him again for all of like an hour before he’s askin’ Daryl for help yankin’ a tooth. Daryl ain’t sure why he agrees to do that and risk their momma’s wrath, but he does. She don’t seem mad at all though, just checks they ain’t bothering him and smiles all sweet and soft at the boys. 

She’s pretty all cleaned up. He can see that. Long Blonde hair and bright blue eyes and real thin, not the healthy thin though. The kinda thin that makes him feel like he needs to go get her food or something. Needs to hunt more, get some meat back on her bones. But she’s pretty, bein’ too thin don’t change that. Prettier when she’s smiling at those boys. Makes her face get all soft. Makes her look nicer than she is. Like she should be in a nice house with nice shit in nice clothes bakin’ cookies or some shit. Not skinning squirrels and threatening prisoners with cigarette burns. 

Her face ain’t nothin’ like that when she keeps her word to witness the execution. It’s cold as ice and he can’t read it to save his life. Her voice is all sugar when she responds to Randall. Don’t match her face at all. ‘Til Carl and Mason interrupt anyway. Her face gets all twisted up and her voice gets real mean soundin’ and he knows that boy of hers is gonna get his hide tanned. Can just fuckin’ tell he ain’t gonna wanna sit for a day or two after this shit. He watches in silence as she hits the side of the barn a few times after sending the kid off to her truck. Like she lost control of her temper and needs to get it back ‘fore she does something she don’t wanna. He gets that feelin’ real well. 

The damn farm goes to hell and everyone but her and her kids and Sophia are together. He’d seen her drive off, seen Mason firing shots out the window. He ain’t sure where she ended up though and he ain’t leavin’ until she’s back. Her and those boys and Sophia. Him and Carol both shout Rick down when he starts talkin’ ‘bout leavin’ them behind. Hell no. Not happenin’. He’s storming to his bike to go find ‘em himself when T-dog starts pointing off at something. Sure ‘nough, her old truck is flying down the damn road towards them like a bat outta hell. Fuck, she drives like shit. Them kids probably got fuckin’ whiplash. 

The damn thing comes to a screeching, sliding halt and he’s moving before he can think. Sophia’s out and running to Carol, but she’s the only one that gets out. That spooks him. If one of them are hurt— are bit— he’s gonna lose his shit. He brought them in, told ‘em it’d be safer. If one of ‘em is hurt, that shit is on him. 

She’s a shaking, hyperventilating wreck when he opens the door. She ain’t even responding to him and he has to put the truck in park for her, looking the boys over while he does. Keston’s been crying. It’s fuckin’ obvious. Poor kid is a mess. Mason is pale as shit and still clutching the gun in one hand. He pushes her back real gently to look at her. No tears, no crying. He’s surprised. He figured she’d be crying. He lights her cigarette for her when she can’t and even with everything that happened, there ain’t a single fuckin’ tear in her eyes. All that panic and shakin’ and still her eyes are dry. 

He ain’t sure why he’s so worried for her, but Daryl don’t think she’s feral now. He ain’t sure what he thinks of her, but she’s part of the group now. Her and the boys and the fuckin’ dogs. He ain’t gonna let shit happen to any of ‘em. Simple as that. Ain’t about any fuckin’ debt. They’re part of this mess now and that’s all there is to it. 


	3. Caring is Scary

Daryl ain’t doin’ too hot. He’s fuckin’ pissed. Easier to be fuckin’ pissed than hurting. Five of the group dead or missing, probably fuckin’ dead too. New fuckin’ baby that’s gonna die if he don’t find the damn formula. He’s workin’ fast and pissed and he needs to get this done and go find Carol and Sophia and Keston. He has to find them. He fuckin’ swore he would. He ain’t ‘bout to break that. 

Findin’ T-dog made his face twist and his heart start beating harder as Rick put a bullet in the man’s head to keep him from coming back. Only finding that scarf thing Carol was wearing with some blood near it, instead of her, instead of the kids, that had made him start punching walls. He ain’t got a clue how to tell Coretta that little man is missing. Ain’t gotta clue what to tell her. Hopes Rick or Glenn will know. He don’t wanna focus on how much it’s killin’ him not to know where Keston is. Little man is a good kid. Sweet kid. Daryl ain’t stupid, kid is like five, ain’t got the best odds of growin’ up. Don’t mean Daryl ain’t gonna do everything he can to keep the kid livin’. 

Listening to Coretta call for her babies, sharp and commanding at first before devolving into desperation, makes his chest all tight and he can’t speak. She ain’t listening to Rick, ain’t listening to Glenn. Bright blue eyes are wide as damn dinner plates and he can see the tears in ‘em when Mason appears without Keston. He don’t think before grabbing her shoulders when she starts towards the tombs. Just don’t want her down in the fuckin’ lower levels. Don’t want her seein’ the blood they found. Don’t want that for her. He spits out what they found and he can see her face fuckin’ drain of life. Daryl grits his teeth at the way her eyes unfocus and her voice shakes. He’s gotta find Carol and Sophia and Keston. Has to find Keston. Ain’t an option. Ain’t a fuckin’ question. 

He has to go find fuckin’ formula first though. Ain’t gonna lose the damn baby. Can’t lose anymore people. He can hear gut wrenching fuckin’ screams from the cellblock as he drives off and knows it’s her. Knows it’s Coretta breaking apart. Makes him wants to stay, makes him want to fix it. They have to find the damn formula though. Ain’t something they can do without. He makes it back with the fuckin’ formula in record fuckin’ time and the cellblock is eerily silent besides the baby cryin’. 

Glenn is the one to tell him what the fuck went on. Coretta got fucked up on moonshine. Started a damn fire and threw shit around her cell. Tried to go find Keston herself and had to be dragged back in by Glenn. Hershel’s been keeping an eye on her. Suicide watch, they have her on fuckin’ suicide watch. Daryl yells and snarls when Glenn mentions he’s made crosses for their missing people. They ain’t dead. Ain’t found no bodies. Threatens to kick the Korean’s ass if he lets Coretta catch wind of a fuckin’ cross for her fuckin’ son. Ain’t no need for no damn cross until they got proof they’re dead. Until they got bodies. Ain’t ‘bout ta let her see that shit. Don’t think she’ll fuckin’ survive that. Woman lives for those boys and Daryl ain’t bout to see her lose ‘em. 

Finding them in a blocked supply closet after fuckin’ hours of searching is damn near enough to make him wanna crow like Merle. Carol is conscious, makes him take the the kids back first. They look like hell and weigh fuckin’ nothin’ as he carries them back. Puts Keston on Sophia’s stomach and carries ‘em back that way. Turns back after putting them in their beds and getting Hershel, goes to get Carol and does the same for her. 

He feels fuckin’ lighter than he has in forever as he goes to tell Coretta. Goes to let her know her son is safe. Is fuckin’ alive. He fuckin’ kept his word. He found ‘em. She looks like fuckin’ hell when he finds her sleepin’ in her bunk, that long blonde hair of hers is a fuckin’ rats nest and there’s bags under her eyes and those are all swollen up from crying. Smells like fuckin’ smoke in the cell too. Woman lost her shit real bad. Glenn weren’t fuckin’ lying. 

He has to drag her outta the damn bed. Woman is half mad with fuckin’ grief and ain’t understanding that he fuckin’ found her son. That Keston’s fuckin’ alive. She struggles and snarls and is hissing and spitting like a damn feral cat. Until she sees her baby. All that fight just drains the fuck outta her and he has to keep hold of her to keep her from breaking her damn knees on the fuckin’ concrete when her legs give out. Daryl don’t let her go right away. Keeps hold of her and mutters reassurance into her ear until Mason comes over to hug her. He takes that as a sign to leave. Let the family have family time. He did his part. Ain’t no reason for him to be intruding anymore. 

He stays up the rest of that night. Crossbow in hand and hyperalert just in case something else happens. He ain’t quite sure how the hell Coretta and the boys became so fuckin’ important, but they are and it scares the hell outta him. Ain’t had nothin’ to lose after Merle ran off until now and they ain’t even his. For all he knows, they’re gonna find her husband any damn day now. They ain’t his so he don’t know why he’s acting like they are, but until her man shows up, he figures he can keep lookin’ after ‘em. Been doing it for months now— not that she really needs it— he don’t mind keeping it up a while longer. Even if he ain’t sure why the hell he is. 


	4. No One Is Waiting Up

Daryl ain’t sure what the fuck he’s doing. Ain’t sure why the fuck he’s helping Beth fuckin’ Greene get a goddamn drink. Ain’t sure why he’s taking her through the damn woods to find her some fuckin’ moonshine so she don’t have no peach fuckin’ schnapps for her first fuckin’ drink. Best reason he’s got is that there ain’t no one he’s keeping waiting for him so it don’treally fuckin’ matter if he takes the little blonde girl out to a shine shack in the woods and babysits her while she gets fucked up. Ain’t no home to go back to. Ain’t no Merle to bitch at him for leaving him behind while he hunts. Ain’t no Carol to smile and scold him for coming back so dirty. Ain’t no Mason to demand to go with him next time. Ain’t no Keston beaming up at him and begging for a piggyback ride. Ain’t no Coretta waiting with a cigarette and a smart ass comment. Ain’t nothing or no one to go back to. S’all gone. 

He’s got a bag full of money and jewelry worth more than his entire damn life and he ain’t got a damn clue why he took it. He just did. Ignores the fact he’d had the passing thought that Coretta would look real pretty in some of that jewelry. She ain’t here. Ain’t ever gonna be here again. She ain’t ever gonna see the fuckin’ jewelry, much less fuckin’ wear it, ‘cause she’s gone. Everyone’s fuckin’ gone. All that’s left is Beth and she’s the wrong fuckin’ blonde. 

He grabs a few jars of moonshine out of the shed and turns back to Beth. She looks wary as he hands her the moonshine and he wants to snap at her. She’s sniffing the moonshine and grimacing, “Daddy said bad moonshine can make you go blind.”

Daryl doesn’t want to think about the blonde that would’ve taken a drink without hesitation. The blonde that could’ve thrown that entire jar back like it’s water if she’d felt like it. He don’t wanna say her name, so he just grits out, “Ain’t nothin’ left worth seein’.”

He leads her inside the shitty trailer by the shack and eyes it as she takes a seat at the table. It’s a fuckin’ mess. Trash everywhere. Smells like wet dog. There’s a fuckin’ titty statue. His old man would shoot one of those. Whole place looks like his fuckin’ childhood. 

“Do you have a lighter?” Beth’s voice drags him out of his thoughts. 

“What?” He turns to give her an incredulous look as he grabs a random cup of the counter and pours her a shot of moonshine. Beth ain’t the type to drink it from the jar. Coretta would’ve already been drinking it. 

Beth holds up a pair of cigarettes. Virginia slims. The kind his momma liked. She shrugs and explains, “They were here. On the table together.”

Daryl’s eyes flick to the table for the pack. No one just leaves a pair of cigarettes on the table. Not these days. Not before. Not if they ain’t coming right back to smoke ‘em. There’s an empty shine jar on the table with a cigarette butt in it. Daryl ain’t getting a bad feeling. Ain’t no other signs that someone’s been here lately. Just a pair of fuckin’ Virginia slims. Like they were waiting to be found. Daryl don’t know what to make of that. 

“Well? Do you have a lighter?” Beth prompts. 

“Ya ever even smoke before?” He narrows his eyes. First booze. Now smokes. Hershel would be loading a shotgun if the man was around to see this shit. 

“No, Maggie used to though. And I know you and Coretta do. I just want to try it,” Beth says it even as she wraps a small hand around the cup of moonshine. 

Daryl wants to snap at her for mentioning Coretta. He don’t wanna think about how the last glimpse he got of her was of her running into D-block to get the boys. How the fuckin’ tank blew a hole in D-block and no one came back out. Don’t wanna so much as hear her fuckin’ name. Instead, he just works his jaw and gestures at the shine, “Thought ya wanted yer first drink.”

“I want both. The cigarettes are here and they aren’t goin’ anywhere. So I wanna try one too,” Beth says then takes a sip from the moonshine and grimaces, “Strong.”

Daryl grunts and looks at the Virginia slims again. Merle and Michonne know ‘bout this place too. Found it with him. Michonne wouldn’t come back. Wouldn’t’ve thought it worth coming back to. Merle would’ve come back, if only for the fuckin’ moonshine. Merle don’t like Virginia slims though. Neither does Daryl. Smells like their momma and a burnt up trailer. Same reason they don’t like wine. For one stupidly hopeful moment, he imagines Coretta made it out with Merle and the boys. That she’d been here. That she’d drank moonshine and shit talked Merle and smoked cigarettes until Mason and Keston came over for a song because Keston was too scared to sleep. That she’d sang in that low, pretty way of hers that made the song sound like a secret she was sharing. She’d’ve smoked Virginia slims without a thought. She didn’t give a shit about cigarette brands. Just wanted her fuckin’ nicotine. 

He shakes himself free of that stupid fuckin’ thought. Coretta went into D-block after her sons and none of them came out. She’s fuckin’ gone. Mason’s fuckin’ gone. Keston’s fuckin’ gone. Even the damn dogs are fuckin’ gone. Everyone is fuckin’ gone. He digs a lighter out of his pocket and gestures at the cigarettes, “Well? Ya want it or not?”

Beth’s big blue eyes— too big and too pale, not the right shade or shape, just like her hair ain’t the right blonde— blink up at him and she looks nervous even as she picks up a cigarette awkwardly and nods, “It’s supposed to feel good, right? That’s why people smoke?”

“Gets better after the first one,” he mutters. 

“Like the moonshine,” Beth smiles and puts the cigarette to her lips and Daryl wonders what Coretta looked like the first time she put one to her mouth. If she was all nervous and excited ‘bout it like Beth is. He don’t think so. He knows enough of Coretta to figure she hadn’t given it a second thought before filling her lungs up with smoke. 

He flicks the lighter on and holds it to the cigarette until it lights and nods, “Like ‘shine.”

Beth inhales and starts hacking and coughing up smoke as soon as it hits her throat. Daryl hardly remembers his first smoke, but he remembers the nicotine rush it’d given him. A high he’d stopped getting over the years. He’s got a half empty pack of his own cigarettes in his pockets. Marlboro lites Coretta had given him, he’d been trying to save ‘em. Trying to ration ‘em so the stash lasted longer. He might just light one up now. Ain’t like it matters none. The stash is gone with everything else, except the blonde girl in front of him. He manages a low laugh and repeats, “Gets better.”

Beth’s eyes are watering and she looks like she thinks he’s out of his fuckin’ mind, “How can you do that? It’s awful.”

Daryl shrugs and goes back to looking around the trailer, “Second drag is better.”

Beth nods a little and the smell of Virginia slims fills the trailer as she manages to get a real inhale this time, “Aren’t you gonna drink?”

“Nah. Someone’s gotta keep watch,” Daryl don’t wanna drink. Hadn’t even drank with Coretta. Prolly woulda started some shit if he had. Prolly wouldn’t’ve been good shit neither. 

“What are you? My chaperone?” Beth questions him and it sounds like a dare. The kinda thing Coretta would’ve said while smiling around a mouthful of smoke. Beth don’t smile around her cigarette though. Still grimacing and coughing a little with every tiny fuckin’ drag she takes.Beth Greene ain’t got no business drinking moonshine and smoking cigarettes. She ain’t the type. 

Daryl ain’t sure why the fuck he opens the other jar. Ain’t sure why he’s doing what he’s doing, but there ain’t no one left but them and he figures that’s enough reason to say fuck it. Enough reason to drink. Might get lucky, maybe he’ll forget Coretta and the boys and the prison and their people for a night. He sighs, “Might as well make the best of it.”

He ain’t sure what the fuck he’s doing drinking moonshine and smoking his Marlboros with Beth fuckin’ Greene. Ain’t sure why the fuck he’s getting involved with some dumbass drinking game. Ain’t sure what the fuck he’s supposed to do now. He’s with the wrong fuckin’ blonde and he ain’t sure who’s alive and who’s dead except for Coretta and Mason and Keston. Went into the cellblock and never came out. Daryl ain’t sure what the fuck he’s doing, but it don’t fuckin’ matter anyways. Ain’t no one waiting up for him anymore, after all.


	5. Wrapped Around Her Finger

Daryl ain’t ever bothered with relationships. A hook up here or there when he was drunk was about all he ever bothered with before the world came to an end. He’d never gone out looking for them either. Normally, Merle would shove him towards some random bitch at a bar and shit talk until he took her home for the night. That’s how shit worked. 

That ain’t how it’s working now and it scares the hell out of Daryl. Coretta’s made it damn clear she’s interested and she ain’t the type for a one night stand and Daryl ain’t sure what to do. He knows how to handle a hook up. Knows how to use someone and let them use him for the night. He knows how to deal with no strings attached.

It’s why he tells her to find someone else. Find someone that knows how to deal with that shit. That ain’t gonna fuck it up. He likes how things are with her. Likes hunting with her. Likes talking to her. Likes helping with the boys. Likes finding her things she likes or needs on runs. He likes how it is. He don’t wanna screw it up. 

She’s too pretty for him too. He tries to picture it and it don’t work. Too pretty. Too clean. Too young even though he knows she’s not even a decade younger than him. She can do better. Has done better. He’d seen the pictures of her husband before she had her brother burn her former home down. Had brought one back because once Carol mentioned that it was a shame Coretta and the boys didn’t have a picture of the man. He wants to wave the picture in her face and remind her that she had better than him. That she’s aiming low if she’s got her sights on him. 

Problem is, he fuckin’ hates the idea of seeing her with some other dumbass. If he was better, he’d be able to tell her he didn’t want her. End her interest entirely. If he was better he’d be able to find the words needed to make her look for someone that actually deserves her attention. He ain’t anything other than what he is and after weeks of her flirting, of her asking him— always said like a joke, even if her eyes with sharp and serious each time— to join her in her bed or the shower or the watch tower or anywhere else, he gives up trying to be a better man. Don’t help that Carol slipped a box of condoms into his perch.

When she makes the last joke, he gives in. She wants him, she can have him. He ain’t sure he can help it anymore, he’s so used to giving her whatever she wants even if she never asks for it. She’s asking now though, and he’s got her in his lap and he waits for her to change her mind. When she doesn’t, when she lets him take the cigarette from her and pull her mouth to his, Daryl is just a little startled. He figured she’d back out if he called her bluff, that she’d realize he ain’t what she wants and that’d be the end of it, but she’s kissing him back and her mouth tastes like shitty lemonade and moonshine and cigarettes and he never thought he’d like that combination, but he really fuckin’ does. 

He can feel that she’s not quite as skinny as she was when they first met— finally got some meat back on her bones— and her hair falls like a fuckin’ curtain around them and Daryl is goddamn lost by the time he tells her to take her shirt off. There ain’t no going back for him anymore. He thinks she could ask him for just about anything right now and he’d move heaven and earth to get it for her. 

He wants to leave marks everywhere, that’s his first fuckin’ thought when he takes her in without her shirt off. Wants to make it clear to everyone that so much as fuckin’ glances at her that she’s his girl. That she’s spent the night with him. That he’s the only one who gets to see her like this. It’s a possessive thought. One he’d never really had about a woman before, but it’s the goddamn truth even if the idea of leaving marks on her feels wrong. Like he don’t deserve to be touching her much less marking her up. 

The one thing he can’t give her is him taking his shirt off. He don’t care that it’s dark. Don’t care that he can make sure she can’t see his back. He holds her wrists tightly until she agrees to leave it on. He don’t want her seeing his scars. Don’t even want her touching them. He don’t want her to see how fucked up he is. The feeling of the cigarette burn scars on her arms make him feel a bit guilty for it. She’s letting him see her scars. He knows if he looks at her back, there’s a decent chance she’s got a few like his. Still, he can’t fuckin’ do it. It’s a damn relief when she nods her agreement. 

When she crawls down his fuckin’ lap and wraps her pretty mouth around his cock Daryl thinks she’s actually gonna kill him. He tries to tell her he don’t want her doing that. Tries to be a better man again. Tries to tell her she don’t need to do this. Not for him. She don’t give a fuck though, just keeps on until he feels his balls tighten and she needs to stop right fuckin’ now. 

Getting the rest of her clothes off is a goddamn test of his self control. He keeps his hands on her hips and lets her rub her wet fuckin’ pussy on his cock like it’s a goddamn toy or something. She looks fuckin’ gorgeous. Eyes damn near black and mouth open all pretty and swollen and Daryl loves every fuckin’ noise she makes. 

Slipping his hand between her thighs, sliding his fingers into her makes his cock twitch and he has to work his mouth up and down her neck to keep from saying some stupid shit at the feeling of how goddamn tight she is. How fuckin’ wet and hot she is. Merle ain’t got a clue what the fuck he was talkin’ about when he said havin’ kids made chicks loose. If this is loose, he thinks she’d’ve broken his goddamn fingers before. 

She tries to stay silent once and that ain’t gonna work. He likes those noises. Likes hearing her voice when she can’t make a single damn word come out of her mouth. He wants to hear her when she comes. He wants to know what kinda noises she makes then. Stopping his hand is another act of fuckin’ self control. He manages until she whines for him to keep going, and when she doesn’t try to keep quiet again, he moves his focus to making her come.

When he finally gets her off, Daryl has to reluctantly put his hand over her mouth. She ain’t quite a screamer, and it’s more high pitched than loud, but he ain’t willing to risk wakin’ asskicker right now. A crying kid’s a mood killer and Daryl will fuckin’ die of blue balls if they have to pause. Watching her come undone is goddamn mesmerizing. Her eyelids close and she’s arching against him and he can feel her shaking and it feels a bit like she’s gonna break his goddamn fingers as she comes on them. 

Rolling the condom on and letting her take the lead is easy at first. He damn near comes just by her lowering herself down on his cock and he’s never wanted to take over so fast in his goddamn life. She’s so goddamn tight. He’s holding her hips way too tight and doing his best to let her run the fuckin’ show but she’s going so goddamn slow and even in the low light he can see on her face she knows exactly what she’s doing to him. 

He’s careful not to let her hit her head when he finally snaps and rolls them over. He’s not so careful when he takes over. He fucks her hard, fucks her fast. Only way he knows how too. But she don’t seem to mind. If anything, she really fuckin’ likes it, if the noises she’s making into his mouth as he kisses her again mean anything. He wants to bury himself in her for fuckin’ ever. Don’t want this shit to fuckin’ end. She’s got her legs wrapped around him and he’s thanking God and Carol for the fuckin’ condoms because he ain’t sure he’d be able to pull out even if he wanted too. Her legs got a goddamn death grip on him and her hand is twisted so hard in his hair that he’s pretty sure her fingers are gonna get knotted in it and Daryl ain’t much of a fuckin’ believer, don’t really think he’ll see heaven, but fuck him if this isn’t close to it. 

He don’t mean to bite her when he comes. At least not that hard. Had meant to just muffle his own groan as he pushed himself inside of her as deep as he fuckin’ could. She don’t seem bothered by it though. She’s panting under him and has thjs blissed out look on her face when he finally pulls back and gets off her. 

Daryl takes the condom off and gets his pants back on and just has to lay there for a second to get his head screwed back on. He ain’t sure what he’s expecting her to do now but he really fuckin’ likes the way she stretches and smiles a a wide, lazy grin beside him. He manages to offer her a cigarette and watching her blow smoke out with her hair all sexed out and her neck red from his stubble and her lips swollen and her completely naked is one of the prettiest fuckin’ sights he’s ever seen. He ain’t much for cuddling. Ain’t never done it. Normally he’ll leave or the chick will as soon as things are done, but he don’t like the thought of her just up and going. Don’t really fuckin’ appreciate the thought of this being a one off. He watches her warily as he smokes his own cigarette. He ain’t sure what to do now, but when she moves to rest across his chest, it ain’t even a thought for his free hand to wrap around her waist. Ain’t even a thought to kiss her back when she leans in for a lazy, slow kiss that ain’t anything like the others. 

Daryl knows he’s fucked by the time the last kiss ends. Knows he’s been good and fucked for awhile now. It scares the hell outta him, but she’s got this fuckin’ look like there ain’t nothin’ in the world that could make her change her mind now. Stubborn fuckin’ woman. Daryl ain’t much for the post sex cuddlin’, but he ain’t gonna deny her shit, besides it’s fuckin’ nice having her pressed up against him still. He still thinks she can do better, knows she could, but at this point, he thinks he’d kick any man’s ass if they so much as glance her way. She wanted him after all, now she’s fuckin’ got him, for as long as she fuckin’ wants him.


	6. Lost And Found And Half A Step From Broken

Daryl lost Beth. He fuckin’ lost her. Watched her get fuckin’ taken and couldn’t get her back. Chased a goddamn car until his fuckin’ legs gave out like he was an abandoned fuckin’ dog. And now he’s with these fuckers. He hates ‘em but at least their rules are straightforward. No lying and if someone claims something it’s theirs. Simple enough. 

He knows they’re looking for some fucker who killed one of theirs. Knows they don’t intend nothin’ good for the guy when they find him. Daryl don’t really give a shit about it, he don’t wanna do it, ain’t his problem, but he ain’t got nothin’ better to do, so he follows along like the way the dogs back at the prison would. 

They catch up to the guy one night and Daryl is well behind the rest but he can hear the voices and hear the way they’re talking and dread rolls down his fuckin’ spine because he knows it ain’t gonna be a simple execution. He knows it and he wants no fuckin’ part of it. 

When he takes in who the fuck they caught, Daryl thinks he’s fuckin’ seeing things. Merle with a gun to his head. Rick with a gun to his head. Michonne too. Fuckin’ Harvey is dragging Carl out of a car. His heart damn near stops when he sees Coretta though. She’s got a gun to her head and an arm around her neck and she’s being held up on her toes and he’s floored seeing her again. The expression on her face is fuckin’ terrifying when she spots him. If looks could kill, Daryl’s pretty damn sure he’d be eating people right now. 

Things go fast from there. One minute he’s frozen in place trying to wrap his head around what he’s seeing the next he’s offering to take a beating or a bullet or whatever else in his people’s place. Same way Merle used to take beating in his place when they were kids. Same way Coretta told him she’d take her little brother’s beating when she could. He knows how to take a punishment. He’ll take whatever punishment he has to if it means his people don’t have to. 

The hits start coming and Daryl knows they ain’t gonna stop until he’s dead or they are. He’s got his teeth gritted and the wind is getting knocked out of him and he needs to get the fuck up and fight but there are gun’s to his people’s heads and Rick and Merle are both yelling and he hasn’t been beat like this in fuckin’ years. Not without fighting back. 

A gun goes off and Daryl manages to get the fuck up and fight back. He can hear Merle cursing somewhere and knows his brother is fighting too. Daryl ain’t sure what the fuck everyone else is doing, but by the time he curb stomps the last fucker’s head and using the car to hold himself up there’s only two people still going. Rick who’s stabbing Harvey like it’s his fuckin’ calling in life and Coretta. Coretta scares the shit outta him right now frankly. 

Michonne is holding Carl and Merle is staggering a little as he steps away from the last man. Coretta is on top of the fucker that’d been holding her and there’s blood on her front and her hands and she’s got him in the fuckin’ campfire. She’s fuckin’ holding his head in the fuckin’ campfire and Her face is twisted into a terrible fuckin’ snarl but her eyes are big as fuckin’ dinner plates and she ain’t making a fuckin’ sound as she burns a man’s face off. In the firelight he can see a fuckin’ handprint spanning her cheek and it’s faded enough that he knows it ain’t fresh but there’s a handprint forming on her fuckin’ neck too and Daryl starts to stagger over to his girl. Means to drag her off the man ‘cause she’s gonna burn herself too and he thought she was fuckin’ dead and he needs to feel her, needs to feel that she’s alive, but Merle shoots him a warning look and beats him to it. 

Watching Merle lift her up and off the man with one arm makes him irrationally angry for a second. When she loses her fuckin’ shit and scratches the hell outta Merle’s face, he gets a bit better why Merle took over. Coretta ain’t there right now. All anger and fear and animal instinct and he’s pretty sure she’d kill Merle for touching her if she could. 

Her eyes are wild and she’s panting like she ran a fuckin’ marathon and she’s fuckin’ alive. Then Daryl makes the mistake of taking a step towards her and he doesn’t even see her pull the fuckin’ gun. Suddenly he’s staring down the barrel of a fuckin’ gun and she looks like she’s genuinely contemplating shooting him. Rick’s still fuckin’ stabbing Harvey and Daryl is frozen in goddamn place. 

It’s takes Merle and Michonne to talk her down. To get the gun out of her hands. Then it’s like cutting the strings to a puppet and she’s curled up against a tree and he’s being sent to get her bow from out in the fuckin’ woods and when he comes back, Rick is done mutilating Harvey and Merle’s offering Coretta a cigarette and calling her _Doll_ and he has no fuckin’ clue how they became friends or when Merle warmed up to her and it fuckin’ hurts that she’s letting Merle near her but flinching away from him. 

She looks like a wild animal. She sounds like she got punched in the fuckin’ throat. She’s watching everything like she’s trying to decide if she needs to kill anymore people. He’s got no fuckin’ clue what the hell happened to her or why the fuck she’s got the pit bull but not her sons and that terrifies him all over again. If the boys are dead, she’s never gonna be right again. He knows that. He knows that like he knows what it’s like to have a belt buckle open his skin. 

Merle pulls him aside before they start getting rid of bodies and warns him she don’t like being touched. That it’s a quick way to get stabbed. Warns him not to make sudden movements near her too. That she’ll be fine in the morning so long as she gets her fuckin’ space. Daryl ain’t sure what the everlovin’ fuck has happened lately that Merle knows that shit, but his mind keeps going to the worst case scenarios. 

Daryl’s still mindfucked at finding his brother, at finding his girl, and Rick and Michonne and Carl. Still trying to wrap his head around it when less than an hour ago he thought he was never gonna see any of them again. That Rick has died in that field. That Coretta never made it outta D-block. Now they’re here and alive in front of him and Daryl can’t even get near Coretta. Can’t even twitch in her direction with her tensing up. He ain’t got a fuckin’ clue what to do except stay away from her like she said to. So that’s what he’ll do. She’s alive and in front of him and that’s just gonna have to be enough. 


	7. Family’s More Than Blood

Daryl’s still trying to process the past few hours. Finding his people. Nearly getting eaten by fuckin’ cannibals. Carol savin’ their asses. Fuckin’ Jesse Claire showing up and lookin’ like he’s just had the time of his life.

He hears what Claire tells Coretta about Mason and it fuckin’ sucks the kid had to do that, but hearing that him and Keston are both alive is enough. Better alive than dead. He hates a kid who ain’t even ten yet had to kill another kid, but Mason and Keston are alive and that’s what fuckin’ matters. 

Daryl is in the back of the group, by Merle, as they make their way to where Tyreese has the kids. Daryl don’t cry, he ain’t sure he can most days, but seein’ the kids, Asskicker, Mason, Keston, hell, even the Mika girl, all alive and healthy even if Mason’s face is torn up and Mika ain’t talkin’, damn near brings him to tears. 

He’s pretty sure he’d take a thousand run-ins with cannibals if it meant seeing Asskicker get back to her family. If it meant watching Coretta hit her knees and damn near suffocate her boys with her hugs and cover their faces in kisses. She’s smiling and he can see tears in her eyes and even with all her injuries, her bruised face, her bruised neck, her burnt hands and that raspy voice, he don’t think she’s ever looked more fuckin’ beautiful than she does holding her babies again. 

He ain’t prepared for Keston to run to him. Ain’t prepared for Little man to break from his momma and slam into his legs and call him daddy. It knocks the fuckin’ wind out of him better than any punch ever has. He can’t form a single fuckin’ word to say back to the kid. Just stares at him and then at the kid’s momma and tries to figure out how the hell he’s supposed to handle this. He ain’t no father material. Ain’t no good for it. Hell, Coretta still barely lets him near her. He ain’t supposed to be who this kid calls that. 

He ain’t sure what he’s expecting. Ain’t sure if he’s expecting Coretta to get annoyed or if she’ll call Keston back over but she’s just watching with huge eyes and she looks pale but less bothered and more surprised. Hell, Merle ain’t even sayin’ a word. His brother is fuckin’ silent for once in his goddamn life. No fuckin’ help at all. 

Daryl ain’t sure how the hell to respond except to crouch down and let the kid scramble up onto his back like a fuckin’ monkey and cling to his neck. He’s gettin’ bigger, is the nonsensical thought Daryl has, heavier, won’t be able to carry him on his shoulders no more like he used to in the early months at the prison. Kid’s still little, still chatty and sweet, but Daryl is blindsided by the image of Keston and Mason as teenagers, tall and lanky with their own bows and slinking through the woods the way he and Coretta do. 

He ain’t no daddy material, ain’t never considered bein’ a father, but he’s been hellbent on seein’ these kids make it to adulthood for well over a fuckin’ year now, and this just makes it feel even more fuckin’ important. The fact that Coretta just offers him a little encouraging smile at him after a second is enough to make him think things are gonna be alright. That shit’s gonna work out just fine somehow or another. Even if he’s scared shitless now that Little man is calling him that. Feels like he’s got even more to lose now, somehow. 

It’s a scary fuckin’ feeling, but it’s what it is. He thought he’d never see these kids again and that hurt like a bitch, felt like he’d gotten a piece carved outta him. Still, he’s got everyone back now but Beth and if the kids wanna call him that and Coretta’s alright with it, he’ll figure it out. Try to not fuck up whatever the hell this is now. They ain’t his kids, ain’t his blood, but fuck it if he ain’t gonna try. Fuck it all of he ain’t gonna keep trying to do right by them and their momma. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading and commenting! Thanks for any kudos! If you have a POV or scene request please comment below!


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